9

Dylan's POV

I hate and I'm angry.

Why?

Of course, because of Brian.

This is insane, my heart becomes even more restless if I stare at him for too long. Especially now, he's swimming with Ashley. It's clearly jealousy, I don't deny it.

If only Jeremy hadn't come up with this crazy idea for us, maybe the four of us would be playing video games right now.

How could he suggest swimming? It's like a breath of fresh air for Ashley, who has been eyeing the opportunity to be alone with Brian.

I'm sick of seeing her staring at Brian hungrily all this time. Does she think I don't understand her tactic of pretending to have leg cramps?

"Darling, why don't you want to swim? Aren't you jealous of the closeness between the two of them? I don't want to swim alone and join them!" Theressa whined again. But I ignored her this time. I was comfortable with my sunglasses, and I wasn't interested in looking at her. I didn't want my annoyed glare to be seen by Theressa or Brian.

"Look, the weather is hot, my love. We better sit here. Instead of going into the pool."

"Ugh! Isn't it better? I don't want to tan my skin! Everyone is having fun with their partners. Jeremy and Nania, Catherine and Sam, they're all occupying corners of your house! What about us? Just drying ourselves like stranded fish!" Theressa grumbled.

I had to take off my sunglasses and look at her. My heart wasn't in good shape, so I acted a bit curtly. "Just go inside the house. Don't complain so much; the day is too hot to listen to your complaints, my dear."

Theressa seemed annoyed, she pouted and immediately went inside the house. Well, at least my burden was reduced without hearing her complaints and her strong desires.

"Why did she go inside?"

Ashley's shout from the pool made me gaze back at them. Brian's face looked cold as he stared at me from the pool's edge.

"She wanted to take shelter inside."

Ashley then turned to Brian, sighed deeply, and said, "I'll go inside too."

From her gestures and movements, Ashley seemed upset, and she even raised the corner of her right lip as she passed by me.

Now I was truly alone with Brian. I looked around, it seemed like everyone was on the second floor. Honestly, my heart was pounding! Just imagine, what I had been wanting all along was finally happening.

To hide my anxiety and nervousness, I decided to busy myself with my phone, just scrolling left and right through the menus.

"Don't you want to swim? How about a swimming race?"

I put down my phone, and it seemed like Brian had approached me and gave me a crooked smile. He looked even more handsome, especially with the sunlight shining on him.

"Are you challenging me?"

"Between challenging and not. If you're interested, then I'll be your opponent. If not, I'll just go inside and sleep in the house," Brian replied.

Shit! He's really toying with my heart and mind! I felt challenged, especially since this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Even though I would spend a lot of time with him on the baseball field tomorrow, what comes first should be done immediately.

I removed my sunglasses and asked, "What's the punishment for the loser?"

"A hundred push-ups," Brian replied.

"And the winner? What's the reward?"

"There's none, it's only for the loser. If you want a reward, ask your lover for a kiss..."

I wanted to respond, 'how about asking for a kiss from you?' But I immediately canceled that intention. I just nodded. Brian's penchant for acting all cool made me want to do the same.

"Get on with it, it's hot today, don't waste time."

Brian climbed onto the pool's edge. We stood side by side, facing each other, and simultaneously nodded. I counted in my head, and on the count of two, we both jumped into the pool.

Among all my friends, I was the most skilled swimmer. I could swim very fast and stay in the water for quite a while. But what I saw today was astonishing.

When I thought I was very close to the edge of the pool, Brian was already there. He was sitting with his arms folded.

"You cheated? How did you get here first? I'm the fastest swimmer among our friends!"

Of course, I protested, I couldn't believe it.

"Just accept your defeat. Don't talk too much; start doing a hundred push-ups," Brian shouted, not wanting to explain how he got there.

"I need an explanation. It was just a few seconds; you seemed to float up from below. Strange!"

Brian raised an eyebrow and said, "If you're great, does that mean there aren't billions of people in the world who could be better than you?"

I furrowed my brow; what he said was pretty clear. But I still couldn't accept this defeat.

"I don't need your ugly face, Dylan. Just do the punishment we agreed on. If you successfully teach me baseball, then I'll teach you how to swim like me," Brian said.

A tempting offer. I still wore my annoyed expression as I nodded and climbed out of the pool.

"Don't go back on your promise."

I immediately assumed the position and started doing push-ups. I don't know, but my heart was really fluttering. Honestly, I exerted all my strength to show Brian what I could do. Even though he might not even be paying attention to me or care about the agility I was demonstrating.

It would be so nice if he suddenly came and stopped this punishment, then invited me to swim intimately again. Damn, my thoughts were getting wild!

I tried to look away from him; I couldn't help but stare at him. But what I got made me even more nervous. Brian was looking at me too! Instantly, I became flustered and couldn't divert my gaze.

I couldn't take it anymore, I immediately dropped my body to escape his gaze.